Pascal Chimbonda says that ‘Spurs fans will hate him’ for saying it (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal have the best defender in the entire Premier League, according to former Tottenham right-back Pascal Chimbonda.
Chimbonda admits that ‘Spurs fans will hate him’ for saying it but has backed fellow Frenchman William Saliba as the top defender in England.
Saliba had to wait three years to make his Arsenal debut but has massively impressed at the Emirates this season and has established himself as a key player under Mikel Arteta, with the Gunners top of the Premier League after 13 games.
The 21-year-old centre-back also impressed on loan at Marseille last term – his third loan since joining the Gunners in 2019 – following spells at fellow French clubs Nice and Saint-Etienne.
Saliba played 52 games for Marseille as they finished runners-up in Ligue 1 to qualify for this season’s Champions League.
He also helped Marseille reach the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League in a strong 2021-22 campaign for the club.
Saliba was crowned Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year and was named in the Ligue 1 Team of the Year.
William Saliba has established himself as a key player under Mikel Arteta (Picture: Getty)
Following a strong start to the 2022-23 season with Arsenal, Chimbonda told Lord Ping that he believes Saliba is the best current defender in the Premier League.
‘The Spurs fans will hate me for this, but Saliba,’ Chimbonda said. ‘He has been absolutely brilliant for them this season.
‘Nobody knew who he was when he signed for Arsenal and, after spending some time on loan in France he has gone back in there and looks like the finished article. Sorry Spurs fans!’
He added: ‘Arsenal are performing really well. At the start of the season, I wouldn’t have believed that Arsenal would be top after 13 games.
‘My final top four would be [Manchester] City, [Manchester] United, Tottenham and Arsenal.’
Arsenal return to action on Saturday when they travel to face Wolves at Molineux.
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‘Spurs fans will hate me for this!’
